Apple’s new MacBooks: Spy photos from Taiwan
[UPDATE 2: New, improved spy photos emerged on Sunday. See here.]
[UPDATE: Invitations for the rumored Oct. 14 special event -- "The spotlight turns to notebooks" -- arrived Thursday noon.]
It’s becoming clear, at least to some Apple watchers, that Oct. 14 will come and go without On Thursday, Apple e-mailed reporters with invitations for the rumored show-and-tell at which Steve Jobs is supposed to introduce a new line of MacBooks — the aging notebook computers that now account for 30% of Apple’s quarterly revenue. (See All eyes on the MacBook.)
But we’re getting close, judging by the frequency with which spy photos are starting to emerge. There’s even a leaked price list that has Apple selling MacBooks for as low as $800 (see below).
The latest set of pictures, posted by a Taiwanese blogger at Apple.pro and republished by MacRumors, may very well be fakes, but they are consistent with reports that Apple has switched to a new manufacturing process that carves the shells of its notebooks out of a single “brick” of aluminum. (See Has Steve Jobs built a secret MacBook factory?)
Accompanied by Chinese characters that, roughly translated, invite readers to look at “three mystical pictures transmitted greatly peacefully,” the photos purport to show “the fable joins MacBook which the aluminum shell helps the C shell.” (link)
The photos are pasted below in their original form:
Note that although these images are similar in several respects to the image at right, posted earlier in the week by Engadget, they are clearly from different machines (or different Photoshop sessions). For example, the space between the keyboard holes and the outer edge of the computer in this image is wider than in the images above.
Meanwhile, Duncan Riley at The Inquisitor claims to have got his hands on an official price list for the new machines. According to his source:
“Apple retail stores have been given price sheets that list 12 price points for the new range, with prices between $800-$3100. Current lines only have 8 price points, 3 Macbooks starting at $1099, 3 Macbook Pros and 2 Macbook Airs.” (link)
Riley adds that Apple retail outlets usually receive price lists 10 days before products hit the market, which would push the launch date into the third week of October. Several commentators dispute Riley’s 10-day rule and suggest that we shouldn’t expect to see the new machines before November.
Why would anyone with inside information share it with these rumor sites, given the speed and severity with which Apple (AAPL) punishes leakers? You have to wonder. Foxconn, Apple’s Taiwanese manufacturing partner, is said to be even more strict about these things, which may explain the cryptic message posted below the Apple.com images:
This, according to Babel Fish, roughly translates as:
“After getting off work, careful be not projected on by the brick bat.”
Re: OMG
I don’t think it looks like the current Macbook painted. Look at the port configurations: headphones, digital, firewire 800 maybe (?), 2 x USB, mini-vga, ethernet… it’s markedly different from the current macbook, which I’m typing this on… No Firewire 400 after USBs!
I thought the Chinese characters meant, “Beware of hitting the Mahjong tables too hard after work”.
These photos are real. If you understand machining of metals, then you can tell the the machine you have to have to create edge finishes of that quality, plus we know the current macbook pros are not made that way. Only a really sophisticated high end machine operation could perform these functions. And no one would have the time and machines to perform a one off item.
This is exciting, and will lead to a whole new revolution of computers. These laptops are going “aerospace quality” . That is really cool feat.
磚塊 means brick, not tile. The translation is “Be careful after work, don’t get hit by a brick (or bricks).
These photos are totally bogus! Look at the middle photo. It was taken in someones living room for petes sake! There is a pair of sneakers in the corner. If the photo was real the background would be in a manufacturing facility.
The space is wider – as in the probable difference between the 15″ and 17″ models?
Babelfish is hilarious; a translation application sure to start a war someday!
Wow, photos that might be fake of a shell for a laptop. That’s good news folks!
Note that although these images are similar in several respects to the image at right, posted earlier in the week by Engadget, they are clearly from different machines (or different Photoshop sessions). For example, the space between the keyboard holes and the outer edge of the computer in this image is wider than in the images above.
The reason that the case in single lower right image is wider than the 3 in the set is probably because the different LCD size. Based on my Apple laptops, the 3 in the set matches the keyboard width on the MacBook which has a 13″ screen while the one in the single image matches the 15″ MacBook Pro.
Babel was close. in actual fact, the Chinese refers to a tile rather than a brick, and it means ‘be careful not to be hit by a tile after getting off work’. 塊 is a unit for a flat object.
cheers, http://www.gregory.hk
Apple never introduced new models before the macworld convention in January , noone who follows Apple is expecting a new macbook this month ..
second… that looks to me exactly like the old macbook…… painted LOL
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Silicon Valley veterans like to joke that Steve Jobs must be surrounded by a reality distortion field; if you get too close to him, you start to believe what he's saying. Thanks to the success of the iPod, the launch of the iPhone and the renewed interest in the Mac, Apple has made believers out of millions of customers - and made a lot of investors rich. But Philip Elmer-DeWitt believes that an ounce of skepticism never hurts when writing about the company. He should know. He's been covering Apple - and watching Steve Jobs operate - since 1982, first for Time Magazine, then for Business 2.0, and now for Fortune.
You all are using Babelfish to translate Chinese?! I thought this was a professional business publication. No one there speaks Mandarin when a large portion of U.S. Trade is being conducted with China?!
ex ped: FORTUNE magazine is indeed a professional business publication, which for all I know employs dozens of Mandarin-speaking reporters and writers. What you are reading is a blog, produced on a shoestring by this poor writer who has only some French, a little Latin, and smattering of Spanish and Italian.