Apple component orders hint imminent MacBook upgrade

Jonny Evans
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July 18, 2008
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 Looks like Apple is moving to accelerate its delayed laptop range upgrade, according to reports emanating all the way from Taiwan.

Seems the company has put out a major order for components for the new MacBooks, reportedly requesting 20 per cent more circuit boards for them than it requested in spring.

Compeq Manufacturing, Gold Circuit Electronics (GCE), Nanya Printed Circuit Board (NPC) and Tripod Technology are the four manufacturers Apple's claimed to have approached for the new boards.

Sure, this doesn't mean new models are definite, but we've expected them a while, and believe their introduction to have been delayed when Intel hit some last minute processor production problems with Centrino 2.

Centrino 2 was scheduled for release at Computex Taipei 2008, which took place on June 3 - 7, 2008, but was delayed until July 14, due to problems with integrated graphics and wireless certification. 

 

Comments (15)

FullGaz (not verified) | July 18, 2008 - 7:46am

Let's hope that some of these boards will go towards and upgraded Mac Mini as well :-)

Jensonb (not verified) | July 18, 2008 - 8:07am

Okay, I get it, the new MacBook has "gone gold". It's a software joke. Very funny.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 18, 2008 - 8:12am

Mac Mini upgrade, please. That and iTunes HD movies for Mac, not just Apple TV.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 18, 2008 - 8:15am

And if you read these Apple, that will make the third Mac Mini I will have bought. Please let me give you some more of my money. : )

SunnyBee (not verified) | July 18, 2008 - 8:54am

Looks like with the aggressive marketing and an excellent MAC OS, and given the fact that Vista did shoddily ever since it's release, Apple is seeing Steve Jobs smiling all the way to the bank.

With the release of the new Macbooks and Macbook Pros, Apple is bound to come out a winner. These models have been much anticipated lately, what with colleges starting in September.

Sunny Bee
snmpwalker@hotmail.com

quandmeme (not verified) | July 18, 2008 - 10:15am

Current education push doesn't end until September 15. Clearing stock for back to school. Milk Penryn through back to school, then start Montevina for Christmas. IMO Apple needs to get its next launches right. 3G press is that Apple is an upstart out of its depth. Not enough polish for the real time.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 19, 2008 - 11:10am

Yeah, but they'd never have lines like that for a MacBook. The iPhone 3G launch is only hyped up by Apple, and people follow suit. I am guilty of it too: Leopard was much the same way. I doubt the launch of MacBooks is ever going to be in the same realm of iPhone or Mac OS X launches on the basis of distribution. It's easy to keep 800 iPhones in stock. Much harder to do that with 800 MacBooks/MacBook Pros . No hype for MacBook Air when they came out. Nobody knew when they would be shipping.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 18, 2008 - 1:34pm

Apple cleans out its stock of current style macbook with the help of the penryn processor to the back to school buyers which includes a free ipod (who can pass that up?). Then releases next gen macbooks for christmas. Brilliant Apple. Just wish I wasn't one of those back to school buyers that needed a laptop.

Rimmy J (not verified) | July 18, 2008 - 3:11pm

Now they are saying that these may be imminent? Wasn't macrumors saying that the mini was imminent oh back in March?!?!?!?!?!?!

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 18, 2008 - 3:23pm

PLEASE, I mean PLEASE,

NO MORE combo-drives!

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 19, 2008 - 11:12am

Expect two combo drives. No two super drives. Wait. Expect no combo-drive. Expect no super-drive. Expect 22s with chrome spinners. The new MacBook will be see through, tangerine, blueberry, lime, pink and available in only one color....iPhone black and white. It will have a dual-core architecture, nay, quad-core, wait, octo-core. It will be a terrible sea monster that can only be contained by the Black Pearl. It will sport a 13.3" LCD display, perhaps an LED, but mostly a LID-like display. The biggest upgrade to the MacBook will be the name. It will be the MacBook Air 2. But it will be lighter. What's lighter than Air? Air 2. Also low molecular weight (LMW) gases. Such as Nitrogen. MacBook Nitrogen: It's in the Air. MacBook Hydrogen Sulfide: Who farted? MacBook Oxygen (It breathes life into your ... MacBook...which shouldn't be confused with the MacBook Hydrogen Cyanide (It'll getchyea dead!) MacBook Hydrogen (It's explosive!). Expect any of these to serve as the monicker for the new MacBook. The hard drive will likely be Flash. No, Solid State. Maybe Liquid State. But for sure, Batman won't stand a chance against it. I dunno, who do you think would win in a fight between Batman and Superman? Superman? Of course, nobody ever says Batman. I suspect this Macbook will be only 3/4 of an inch...no...cm....no....only 1/2 mm thin. Probably wedge shaped. Or perhaps shoestring. Hard to get waffle pattern. But Apple will settle on Wedge simply because it looks better from a design standpoint. Blu-Ray Burner! Red-Ray Burner! Ray-Ray Burner (good sticky-icky source in Washington Heights)! It will have multi-touch, 3-in-1-touch, 1-2-3-4-Feist touch, and but will rely entirely on cupcake batter. Sticky yes, but accurate to make photos bigger, smaller, and moving between pictures in iPhoto (only). Will be made entirely out of aluminum, glass, and 9 different types of precious baby seal oils. The power adapter will be smaller. It will have a battery that lasts 10 hours stand by. 1 hour sitting in front typing. Wifi? There is no Wi-Fi! MacBook ____insert low molecular weight gas___ (Neon?) The MacBook Neon will have drink service until 3, but only at the lounge. Not on the dance floor. (it will have 3 dance floors). They will be called Cocoa Carbon and Classic. Cocoa will have all the chics. Carbon is for creepy guys skeezing on lil babies. Classic will be cougars who want some attention and are buying if you're there to please. The box is made out of bamboo leaves and is biodegradable and falls apart the second you need to move the MacBook C3 from one home to another when it's raining. And yes, it fits in a manilla envelope! Yeah, it's that thin. I don't mean one of those large office manilla envelopes. I mean one of those tiny ones for wallet sized photos. Yeah, it fits in your wallet. The MacBook Air/Neon/C4(added extra C for cool).

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 19, 2008 - 11:16am

I was drunk when I wrote this. :) But not sober enough to submit it last night. =)

Partners in Grime (not verified) | July 19, 2008 - 12:15pm

Looking forward to metal cases for the MacBook.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 19, 2008 - 1:54pm

Think they'll be more MacBook Air like? I would love to see a lighter casing for the Macbook. My Macbook feels clunky and has a weird and off center weight distribution. It feels super heavy for the size. Would aluminum (I'm guessing this is what you meant) will be lighter? I don't know if the Macbook Air is indicative of this change in material....it's made of nothing!

Any thoughts?

Dave Brightbill (not verified) | July 24, 2008 - 8:45am

I want something between the size of a eee PC and a Nokia n810. It needs to have audio in/out, USB, some sort of video out supporting, say a 19" external monitor, Bluetooth and WiFi. Built in storage can be solid state. The battery has to be easily replaceable. Of course, it needs to have a real version of Mac OS X with all the iPhone/iTouch gesture goodness. And of course, it needs to weigh in at a sub-$1000 price. The subber the better.