Separately, however, a Chinese Mac enthusiast site has posted additional case leaks that show the top halves of both the MacBook and MacBook Pro. Both line up with recently confirmed designs for the new notebooks and show a new, consistent design across Apple's whole portable line that includes a seamless border, magnetic lid closure, and the trayless keyboard that first appeared with the original MacBook in 2006. The bottom is absent from both systems but has been reported in past rumors as an at least partly tapered design versus the near-flat surface of current models.

Either also shows a reduced number of ports versus today's systems; in the case of the MacBook Pro, the shift is believed in part to stem from moving the slot-load optical drive from the front to the side for unknown reasons. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro now appears to have dropped its FireWire 400 and regular DVI connectors in favor of the lone remaining FireWire 800 port and a more compact mini-DVI jack.

Notably, the regular MacBook has dropped its one FireWire 400 port and now appears to depend exclusively on its two USB ports for external peripherals. The move would signal one of the first times a non-professional Apple portable has shipped without FireWire since 1999, when the original iBook carried just one USB port. The company's incentive to do so outside of space concerns isn't known.

No leaks have yet to surface of a redesigned 17-inch MacBook Pro or a revised MacBook Air, though Apple is now widely believed to be using a new NVIDIA platform for some or all of its portables that would improve visual performance on some systems and shrink the components inside. [via AppleInsider]

Apple manual excerpt



MacBook case





MacBook Pro case