When Apple launches a MacBook Air that equals the white MacBook in performance, the latter should become irrelevant. However, some believe that recently constrained supplies of the legendary portable Mac indicate a looming refresh, rather than the discontinuation of the notebook.
Once Apple’s most popular Mac,
the polycarbonate white MacBook currently sells for $999 and currently packs a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of DDR3 memory, a 250GB hard drive, an 8x double-layer SuperDrive, NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics and a built-in 7-hour battery.
It’s a good computer, but it’s slowly being left in a trail of dust by the more powerful 13-inch MacBook Pro, which features slightly higher specs overall, plus an aluminum unibody enclosure.
The MacBook Pro family has been updated twice since the white MacBook saw its last revision.
So, what’s stopping Apple to discontinue this baby? Well, nothing really. They already have a great MacBook Air that sells for the same price and it’s on track to be updated yet again.
However, many Apple authorized resellers are now either low or completely sold out of the polycarbonate notebook, according to various reports.
The same thing happens every time a product refresh is on the way, so why would now be any different?
In this scenario - i.e. Apple keeps white MacBook on board - the following specs should apply:
· Sandy Bridge CPU - 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
· 2GB RAM;
· larger 320GB hard drive;
· built-in HD FaceTime camera;
· Thunderbolt I/O; same 7-hour battery;
· (perhaps) an illuminated keyboard to keep things interesting.
We should also take into account that the depleted MacBook stock could also be the result of a recent educational discount to $899.
Needless to point out, the promo made an already attractive computer even more attractive.
Hey, there’s an idea - why not keep the MacBook, upgrade it, AND lower the price? The MacBook Air continues to sell for $999. Everybody is happy.
Apple is believed to plan the introduction of an array of upgraded Macs alongside OS X Lion, the eighth major incarnation of the Mac OS launching next month.
The white MacBook could be one of them. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for an $899 price tag - no promos, no special discounts, just the final price.
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